ABC Daytime & LA Gay and Lesbian Center Present WORLD GOES 'ROUND, 10/7-9

For the first time, ABC Daytime and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center are teaming up to produce a benefit engagement of Kander & Ebb's award-winning musical revue, THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND. The performances will feature All My Children's Bobbie Eakes and NatAlie Hall and General Hospital's Bradford Anderson and Brandon Barash. Each performance will be hosted by another star from one of the shows. The World Goes ‘Round will be performed on October 7, 9 and 10 at the Gay & Lesbian Center's Renberg Theatre, and net proceeds will raise much needed funds for its Jeffrey Goodman Special Care Clinic.

THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND takes its name from a tune the songwriting team wrote for Liza Minnelli to sing in the film New York, New York . This revue follows in the great tradition of ABC's annual benefit supporting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS . Each performance will feature a host, an actor from either All My Children or General Hospital, who is not in the performance. The host will welcome the audience, take questions and offer exclusive storyline previews for future episodes of All My Children, General Hospital and One Life to Live! Hosts for each performance will be announced at a later date.

For patrons who purchase VIP-level tickets, there will be a private reception following each performance with the host and the entire cast.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center gratefully acknowledges ABC Daytime's commitment to the honest portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on their television shows. Their groundbreaking All My Children storyline featured Erica Kane's daughter, Bianca, as the first longstanding character to come out on daytime television. In the years since, ABC's daytime programming has consistently been in the forefront of presenting realistic, as well as entertaining, LGBT characters.

Derick LaSalla's theatre credits include directing the Center's hit productions of Stay Forever: The Life and Music of Dusty Springfield, Selene Luna's Born to Be Alive and the staged reading of Eve Ensler's A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer. LaSalla is a former Show Director for the Walt Disney Company and has received the Los Angeles Theater Critic's Award, the Drama-Logue Award for Best Choreography of a New Musical and The Desert Theater League Award for outstanding lighting design. He is the founder and director of Showbeat Productions & Casting, Inc. www.showbeat.com.

In addition to serving as musical director for the Center's Stay Forever: The Life and Music of Dusty Springfield, Zachary Provost was Josh Groban's musical director for five years. He has also performed with Elton John, Carlos Santana, Natalie Cole and Willie Nelson, among many others.

Tickets are available online at www.lagaycenter.org/worldgoesround or call 323-860-7300.

Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi